«Allegations of misogynistic and sexist comments loom over Michael Bloomberg’s first 2020 debate»

«They include claims from the 1990s that prior to a male colleague’s wedding, Bloomberg told a group of female employees to “line up to give him a blow job as a wedding present”; that he would regularly direct comments like “look at that nice piece of ass” at women in the office; and that upon learning that a female employee was expecting a baby, he responded: “Kill it!” »

«Bloomberg, through his representatives, has denied making the “kill it” comment and other comments laid out in at least two lawsuits, but has also acknowledged that he has made comments that do not align with his values»

«And his alleged offensive comments about women could make for particularly charged moments in light of the #MeToo movement»

«Further complicating matters is the fact that Democrats have been outspoken in calling out the numerous accusations of sexual harassment and assault made against Donald Trump»

«CNN examined two lawsuits that paint a vivid picture of the billionaire as having allegedly condoned and promoted misogyny and sexism in the workplace.»

«Sekiko Sakai Garrison was a sales representative at Bloomberg LP until she was terminated in May of 1995, and she sued Bloomberg in 1997 …. Bloomberg e altri dirigenti maschi dell’azienda umiliavano e molestavano sessualmente le colleghe»

«the Bloomberg LP office was described in the suit as a boy’s club where career advancement for women depended heavily on their “sex appeal”»

«Wearing short skirts was said by these male executives»

«Women sales persons who were less attractive or who were married were ridiculed and new mothers and recently married women lost lucrative portions of their sales territory»

«Bloomberg also uttered comments like, “That’s a great piece of ass” in the presence of colleagues»

«”You still dating your boyfriend? You giving him good blow jobs?”»

«When Garrison eventually informed Bloomberg that she was pregnant in 1995, she alleged that he responded: “Kill it!”»

«Mary Ann Olszewski, a former Bloomberg LP sales representative who worked at the firm from 1993 to 1995, sued the company and one of its then-executives whom she accused of rape. In a 1997 deposition, Olszewski said she was “regularly” on the receiving end of harassing looks from Bloomberg»

«Olszewski also claimed that Bloomberg often used crude language in the office. “Look at that nice piece of ass,”»

«When you’re a woman who worked at Bloomberg, you had to look beautiful»

«When Bloomberg deemed a woman attractive, he would make remarks like, “I could have her any time,”»

*

When Michael Bloomberg takes the 2020 debate stage for the first time Wednesday night, allegations of sexist and misogynistic behavior will loom over the former New York City Mayor.

They include claims from the 1990s that prior to a male colleague’s wedding, Bloomberg told a group of female employees to “line up to give him a blow job as a wedding present”; that he would regularly direct comments like “look at that nice piece of ass” at women in the office; and that upon learning that a female employee was expecting a baby, he responded: “Kill it!”

Bloomberg, through his representatives, has denied making the “kill it” comment and other comments laid out in at least two lawsuits, but has also acknowledged that he has made comments that do not align with his values.

The renewed criticism comes as the 78-year-old is mounting an unconventional campaign for the White House, choosing to forego the four early states and targeting the delegates-rich Super Tuesday contests and beyond. The billionaire has already poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the race, blanketing the country with more than $400 million on television, radio and digital advertisements. Those efforts appear to be working for now: Bloomberg has risen in recent national polls, notably eating into support for former Vice President Joe Biden.

But as Bloomberg’s candidacy gains traction, his decades-long record as a business titan and three terms as mayor of New York City is garnering fresh scrutiny, including his legacy of fostering the deeply controversial policing tactic of “stop and frisk.” And his alleged offensive comments about women could make for particularly charged moments in light of the #MeToo movement.

Democratic Party leaders and allies are confronting uncomfortable questions about Bloomberg’s past conduct, but there have not yet been widespread statements of condemnation against the former mayor. Further complicating matters is the fact that Democrats have been outspoken in calling out the numerous accusations of sexual harassment and assault made against Donald Trump. Trump has denied those allegations.

The Bloomberg campaign is responding to questions about his past behavior in part by highlighting his history of promoting women to senior roles both as a businessman and mayor.

Campaign chairwoman Patricia Harris said as a part of a lengthy statement: “In any large organization, there are going to be complaints — but Mike has never tolerated any kind of discrimination or harassment, and he’s created cultures that are all about equality and inclusion. Anyone who works hard and performs well is going to be rewarded, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation or anything else.”

A boy’s club

CNN examined two lawsuits that paint a vivid picture of the billionaire as having allegedly condoned and promoted misogyny and sexism in the workplace.

Sekiko Sakai Garrison was a sales representative at Bloomberg LP until she was terminated in May of 1995, and she sued Bloomberg in 1997. The lengthy complaint detailed the many ways in which Garrison said Bloomberg and other male executives at the company sexually demeaned and harassed female colleagues. Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said that Bloomberg “did not make any of the statements alleged in the Sekiko Garrison case.”

In that lawsuit, the Bloomberg LP office was described in the suit as a boy’s club where career advancement for women depended heavily on their “sex appeal.” “Wearing short skirts was said by these male executives, and others, to be an advantage for promotion. Women who applied for sales positions were required to meet criteria of sex appeal,” Garrison’s complaint said. “Women sales persons who were less attractive or who were married were ridiculed and new mothers and recently married women lost lucrative portions of their sales territory, were denied business opportunities, had their pay cut and received inferior bonuses as compared to their male counterparts.”

That culture of pervasive harassment stemmed directly from the man at the top of the firm, Garrison alleged.

According to her complaint, Bloomberg so frequently said the words “I’d f**k that in a second” in reference to women that it was shortened to “in a second.” Bloomberg also uttered comments like, “That’s a great piece of ass” in the presence of colleagues, she said.

Garrison laid out multiple allegations of Bloomberg directly targeting her. In 1993, Bloomberg purportedly said to Garrison: “You still dating your boyfriend? You giving him good blow jobs?

And when Garrison got engaged around that time, Bloomberg saw her ring and allegedly said: “What, is the guy dumb and blind? What the hell is he marrying you for?”

When Garrison eventually informed Bloomberg that she was pregnant in 1995, she alleged that he responded: “Kill it!”

“Plaintiff asked Bloomberg to repeat himself, and again he said, ‘Kill it!’ and muttered, ‘Great! Number 16!’ suggesting to plaintiff his unhappiness that sixteen women in the Company had maternity-related status,” the complaint said. “Then he walked away.”

The lawsuit has been previously been reported on by multiple outlets. A former Bloomberg employee, David Zielenziger, told the Washington Post in a story published over the weekend that he had witnessed Bloomberg’s conversation with Garrison. That lawsuit was ultimately settled on undisclosed terms.

“In his testimony in the case, Mike said: ‘I never said those words and there would be no reason to do so, it’s ridiculous and an outrage,” Loeser said. “Mike openly admits that his words have not always aligned with his values and the way he has led his life and some of what he has said is disrespectful and wrong.”

Bonnie Josephs, a lawyer who initially represented Garrison, told CNN: “My experience of her complaint was that it was well-founded and that it was credible.” Neal Brickman, a lawyer who represented Garrison after Josephs, did not respond to a request for comment.

‘Feeling someone looking at me’

Mary Ann Olszewski, a former Bloomberg LP sales representative who worked at the firm from 1993 to 1995, sued the company and one of its then-executives whom she accused of rape. In a 1997 deposition, Olszewski said she was “regularly” on the receiving end of harassing looks from Bloomberg.

She said that on at least 20 occasions, she experienced “reaching up for things and feeling someone looking at me, turning and seeing Mike Bloomberg directly looking at my skirt going up and giving me a little look, like a sexual look.”

Olszewski also claimed that Bloomberg often used crude language in the office. “Look at that nice piece of ass,” Olszewski recalled Bloomberg saying about a colleague.

At one meeting, Olszewski alleged, Bloomberg openly disparaged a woman he was dating at the time, making a “condescending” joke about how “I need to be deaf, blind and dumb” to go out with her.

The Village Voice reported in 2001 on details of Bloomberg’s deposition in this lawsuit (CNN was only able to obtain a part of the deposition). The media executive said, according to the Village Voice, that he would believe a rape charge only if it was backed up by an “unimpeachable third-party” witness.

Loeser, the Bloomberg spokesperson, told CNN: “It was a contentious deposition and this is not what Mike believes.”

The Olszewski case was closed in 2001 after Olszewski’s legal team missed a filing deadline. Olszewski’s lawyer at the time did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

One former senior Bloomberg LP employee who worked closely with Bloomberg told CNN in an interview that both Bloomberg’s behavior and the hostile work environment that Garrison and Olszewski described in the two lawsuits were consistent with what they also witnessed during their tenure at the company.

“When you’re a woman who worked at Bloomberg, you had to look beautiful. You had to be gorgeous,” said the former employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “If you were overweight, they would call you horrible names. It’s mean stuff.”

One such commonly used nickname that Bloomberg and his colleagues used, according to this ex-employee, was “SFU” — abbreviation for “Short, Fat and Ugly.”

This person also described Bloomberg’s penchant for denigrating pregnant women in the office, including by making comments like, “I didn’t get her pregnant, but I could have.” When Bloomberg deemed a woman attractive, he would make remarks like, “I could have her any time,” they said.

And those kinds of remarks are not just rooted in allegations from the distant past.

Bloomberg was described by one reporter as making crude remarks about women’s looks when he was New York City’s mayor.

And Bloomberg also raised eyebrows in late 2018 when in an interview with The New York Times, he said about allegations leveled against disgraced TV anchor Charlie Rose: “I don’t know how true all of it is.” Rose taped his namesake show at Bloomberg studios, and Bloomberg LP was named as a defendant in one of the lawsuits brought against the former host.

CBS and PBS fired Rose in November of 2017 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment, which Rose has denied.

“We never had a complaint, whatsoever, and when I read some of the stuff, I was surprised, I will say,” Bloomberg told the Times. “But I never saw anything and we have no record, we’ve checked very carefully.”

* * * * * * *

«What will a second Donald Trump presidential term look like — if it happens? That was the thought in many delegates’ minds as they gathered over the weekend in the southern German city of Munich for a security conference»

«Attacking Trump has become something of a hobby at this annual Bavarian gathering»

«Germany in particular has drawn Trump’s ire»

«Since his presidency began, the MSC has become a diplomatic skirmish and precursor to tougher battles to come.»

«Only last year, host Chancellor Angela Merkel clashed with US Vice President Mike Pence over NATO, Iran and gas from Russia»

«The working assumption here is that Trump is to blame for the loss of core values» [Nota. Per “core values” l’articolista intende l’ideologia liberal socialista]

«Few Westlessness believers doubt he will win a second term.»

«But the reality is, despite the Westlessness MSC rhetoric, most in Munich believe Trump is the future»

«The MSC foreshadows a world split into either pro-USA, or pro-China camps.»

«But to be part of the universe of everything America, with Trump at the door, can be a formidable gate keeper.»

«The thought in European capitals now, is how he will respond with recalcitrant allies if he is handed a second term. It could be a case study in retribution»

«America’s friends are facing tough choices they haven’t had to make in generations»

«It’s almost 30 years since the Cold War ended: for a few decades the world felt less divided. A second round of Trump could change all that.»

«But for anyone thinking a Democrat may be different, Bremmer cautions America’s isolation is not a Trumpian thing; he said it had begun under Obama, the last President’s policies in the Middle East being an example of that»

«Europe may find America has grown out of love with its Western roots and moved on» [Nota. Per “Western roots” l’articolista intende l’ideologia liberal socialista]

*

What will a second Donald Trump presidential term look like — if it happens? That was the thought in many delegates’ minds as they gathered over the weekend in the southern German city of Munich for a security conference.

The official theme at the conference was “Westlessness,” an intentional gripe at the impact of Trump’s isolationist, America First policies. But what emerged at the event, attended by hundreds of world leaders and their top officials, was a soft-focus vision of the next four years if Trump wins reelection.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper was a key speaker in Munich. Leaving Washington for Europe at the beginning of the week, one of his senior officials framed his mission to the MSC as, “China, China, China, Russia, China.”

He wasn’t the only American official bringing that message.

Attacking Trump has become something of a hobby at this annual Bavarian gathering. It is symptomatic of how many in Europe feel that America, and Trump in particular, is withdrawing from the post-World War II world order it built, leaving more than half a billion people this side of the Atlantic, and countless more around the planet without the deep pockets and security backing they have come to rely on.

Germany in particular has drawn Trump’s ire. Since his presidency began, the MSC has become a diplomatic skirmish and precursor to tougher battles to come.

This year’s premise — the West is weakening — is an extension of those festering transatlantic differences. The working assumption here is that Trump is to blame for the loss of core values. Not for the first time in his two-year tenure as Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo defended his boss.

During his speech, which came shortly before Esper’s on Saturday morning, Pompeo told the MSC audience of ministers and policy experts, “those statements don’t reflect reality,” he said. “I’m happy to report that the death of the transatlantic alliance is grossly exaggerated. The West is winning, and we’re winning together.”

Doing it together emerged as another one of America’s messages in Munich, but what has needed little communicating and where there was almost no argument is that Trump’s world vision has traction and will continue.

Few Westlessness believers doubt he will win a second term.

Most see Trump as the future

Another four years of Trump felt baked in to pretty much every conversation — except perhaps those in the orbit of House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the other US Democrats who crossed the pond with her on their annual MSC pilgrimage to meet with like-minded souls.

But the reality is, despite the Westlessness MSC rhetoric, most in Munich believe Trump is the future.

Ian Bremmer, a regular at the MSC and a global affairs expert from geopolitical risk firm Eurasia, believes Trump is getting some things right, namely being tough on Iran, along with standing up to China on trade and intellectual property theft. Many Europeans in Munich would agree even if, like Bremmer, they question the wisdom of how Trump sets about delivering his goals.

Several Middle East government ministers — from his enemies to overseas allies — who declined to be named, all think Trump’s win is a forgone conclusion, and appear to be calibrating their actions accordingly.

In the Middle East that means uncertainty because no one believes Trump has a plan to de-escalate tensions with Iran, but it is in confrontation with China that Trump’s second-term legacy would likely to lie.

A choice of pro-USA or pro-China

The MSC foreshadows a world split into either pro-USA, or pro-China camps.

At the podium, Esper, as promised, focused on China. “I continue to stress to my friends in Europe — and just this past week again at the NATO Defense Ministerial in Brussels — that America’s concerns about Beijing’s commercial and military expansion should be their concerns as well,” the US Defense Secretary said.

The catalyst of this round of anti-China opprobrium is not trade, as it has been the past few years, but Huawei’s 5G networks. Specifically the company’s compulsory allegiance to the Chinese state, and that state’s corrupt and illegal practices. Buy their 5G equipment and forever be vulnerable to their spying and intellectual property thievery.

Mark Esper delivers a speech at the 2020 Munich Security Conference on February 15.

It’s a US message that’s been gathering momentum for the past few months, especially since both the British, French and German governments, along with the European Union, have recently said they’ll continue using controlled amounts of Huawei equipment, in nonsensitive locations.

Other US government officials at the conference sowed the same seeds of perceived wisdom.

The messaging was softer than Esper’s, from banking boardrooms to bars and other MSC venues, senior officials from the State Department, the Department of Justice and the White House seemed to dial back earlier language that implied intelligence sharing with key partners like the United Kingdom was at stake.

Trump’s special representative on telecommunication’s policy Robert Blair said, “we never meant this as a threat,” emphasizing core intelligence sharing between the UK and US will continue.

The bottom line is, the US doesn’t believe the UK or anyone else can insulate themselves from China’s 5G malfeasance if they use Huawei gear, specifically from software updates that open back doors. These will allow the Chinese state to harvest sensitive, valuable proprietary data and even shut down future tech like AI-driven automated cars and telemedicine that will depend on 5G.

Trump’s plain choice for Europe

It’s not lost on Europe that the US is effectively saying it’s our data highway. Even if the message is soft for now everyone knows Trump wants this his way and he’ll use pressure to achieve it.

Blair arguments thrown up by some in Munich — that the US can open data back doors in their IT systems, too — as specious: he points out Europe’s shared values with the US while China harnesses face recognition and other AI tech to violate its citizens’ human rights, including locking up to 2 million Muslim Uyghurs for “re-education.”

Trump was said to have been furious recently when, despite heavy US pressure, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson still allowed Huawei to bid on part of the UK’s new 5G network. But the American President may yet have Johnson in a tight spot, as the Brexit-busy leader needs a good trade deal with the US.

During Brexit campaigning, increasing UK trade with China was touted as a benefit of breaking free from Brussels. But now, Johnson shutting the door in Huawei’s face could have unforeseen consequences for business opportunities in the other direction. But this is the choice the United States appears to want its friends to make.

Writ large, this risks polarizing the world. But to be part of the universe of everything America, with Trump at the door, can be a formidable gate keeper.

Trump survived his impeachment trial emboldened, lashing out at his enemies. The thought in European capitals now, is how he will respond with recalcitrant allies if he is handed a second term. It could be a case study in retribution.

America’s friends are facing tough choices they haven’t had to make in generations. Take a leap of faith that China will change course, that its Communist Party will shed autocracy and its high-tech grip on its billion-plus citizens and reform — or go with what they know and can almost trust by backing the US.

A return to the days or us-or-them

The fear is, like the very fragments of data the decision hinges on, the choice could be binary. If the US blocks anyone from its AI world that uses Chinese high-tech, in the same way it threatens secondary sanctions against businesses who trade, however remotely, with Iran — then the world could be thrown back to the us-or-them days of the Soviet Union, when its Communist Party locked the rest of the world out of their sphere of influence.

A time when tiny islands like Cuba took on outsized significance.

It’s almost 30 years since the Cold War ended: for a few decades the world felt less divided. A second round of Trump could change all that.

But for anyone thinking a Democrat may be different, Bremmer cautions America’s isolation is not a Trumpian thing; he said it had begun under Obama, the last President’s policies in the Middle East being an example of that.

Pelosi echoed the current administration’s message that Huawei 5G is a danger no US politician will ignore, saying in Munich Sunday that “national security, economy, values all come together on the Huawei issue.”

So even in a world with a Democrat in the White House, if not this time then next time which MSC organizers might imagine to be less Westlessness, Europe may find America has grown out of love with its Western roots and moved on. The “Old World” still wants the old bond, but they’ll be beholden to America’s whims, 5G and whatever else comes after it.

* * * * * * *

«We Americans talk about sex publicly all the time these days, but it rarely dawns on America’s cultural warriors that foreigners overhear these conversations»

«The consequences are not always trivial»

«It rarely dawns on America’s cultural warriors that foreigners overhear these conversations, and that they also consume our sexually vulgarized popular culture productions through exported movies and television serials. Some of these foreigners are Middle Easterners, and the narrative produced by American writers and readers, producers and viewers, affects the image of American society—our politics and policies with it—in the region»

«Most of these buckets are the property of the post-bourgeois salon Left, which has rendered the American Left as a whole so drunk on culture-war juice that it spends almost no effort on the political economy issues that used to be its raison d’etre. The country is arguably much worse off as a result. …..»

«According to the NYT, colleges must require “affirmative conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity»

«So an encounter that progresses from kissing to intercourse would require not one go-ahead but several»

«The California law stipulates, again without actually defining it, that consent can be communicated verbally (they didn’t dare say orally) or through actions, but other such codes in other states require written consent, which we are told can range from a short statement to up to two pages»

* * *

«To one extent or another, all Muslim Middle Eastern societies (to include those of North Africa, the Sahel and Southwest Asia), Arab and non-Arab alike, maintain traditional attitudes toward human sexuality and to how that subject in its various manifestations may and may not be discussed in public»

«In short, compared to their own social surroundings, Middle Eastern Muslims see an America that is the consequence of multiple, protracted scoundrel cascades»

«But rather a lot of tradition-minded Middle Easterners are disgusted by America»

«The rise of “gay rights” discourse and especially of the gay marriage controversy to the pinnacle of American politics—all the way to the Supreme Court—befuddles and disgusts most of them»

*

We Americans talk about sex publicly all the time these days, but it rarely dawns on America’s cultural warriors that foreigners overhear these conversations. The consequences are not always trivial.

Yes, you read that right. We Americans have sex, sometimes, but we talk about it publicly all the time these days, especially the kind that tends to dwell at the sloughs of the bell curve of normality. We generally assume—without letting ourselves in on the assumption most of the time, so self-absorbed are we—that the cultural conversations we have on subjects sexual stay in the United States, if not in Vegas. It rarely dawns on America’s cultural warriors that foreigners overhear these conversations, and that they also consume our sexually vulgarized popular culture productions through exported movies and television serials. Some of these foreigners are Middle Easterners, and the narrative produced by American writers and readers, producers and viewers, affects the image of American society—our politics and policies with it—in the region. The consequences are not always trivial. …..

All the American culture-war topics surrounding variable human sexuality—same-sex rights and marriage, abortion, surrogacy, and, lately, campus sexual assaults as a sub-category of generic violence against women—attract great buckets of ink on a regular basis. Most of these buckets are the property of the post-bourgeois salon Left, which has rendered the American Left as a whole so drunk on culture-war juice that it spends almost no effort on the political economy issues that used to be its raison d’etre. The country is arguably much worse off as a result. …..

The amazing law recently passed in California (where else?) on affirmative consent in sexual relations on campus. ….

According to the NYT, colleges must require “affirmative conscious and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity.” Moreover, the Times informs us that the law mandates such consent for each phase of a sexual encounter, without explicitly defining what those phases are: “Consent to one kind of contact cannot be taken to mean consent to another. So an encounter that progresses from kissing to intercourse would require not one go-ahead but several.” The California law stipulates, again without actually defining it, that consent can be communicated verbally (they didn’t dare say orally) or through actions, but other such codes in other states require written consent, which we are told can range from a short statement to up to two pages. ….

Jess interrupts their romantic embrace and flatly states: “Pat, you’ve got to sign this paper before I can lick your [fill in the blank……use your imagination].”.

If you don’t find this hilarious, then I cannot help you. ….

* * *

Now what, finally at long last, has all this to do with the Middle East? The answer is “plenty”, but I will be brief. ….

To one extent or another, all Muslim Middle Eastern societies (to include those of North Africa, the Sahel and Southwest Asia), Arab and non-Arab alike, maintain traditional attitudes toward human sexuality and to how that subject in its various manifestations may and may not be discussed in public. ….

Middle Easterners are regularly sideswiped by our mean-world syndrome, both the sexualized parts and the other parts. But unlike Americans, they lack the day-by-day encounter with American reality that might leaven their perceptions. ….

In short, compared to their own social surroundings, Middle Eastern Muslims see an America that is the consequence of multiple, protracted scoundrel cascades. ….

True, they are neither stupid nor primitive, but the conventions of what is fictive and how it is produced are not homogeneous across cultures: Societies can be different without some being “superior” or “better” than the others. ….

But rather a lot of tradition-minded Middle Easterners are disgusted by America. There is a difference. ….

The rise of “gay rights” discourse and especially of the gay marriage controversy to the pinnacle of American politics—all the way to the Supreme Court—befuddles and disgusts most of them. The immodesty and downright salaciousness of American “low” fashion, especially for women, repels and disgusts them, too. ….

the casual pervasiveness of it in Americans’ own depictions of American society shocks and disgusts them, too. ….

To figure out why so few Middle Easterners were won over by President Obama’s famous Cairo speech ….

As a fish is the last to discover water, most Americans have become jaded to the point of non-discernment with respect their own cultural circumstances. But Arabs and Turks and Kurds and Pashtuns and Berbers who come to America to study in their impressionable youth are not jaded, and they do not all return home as fans of American culture or society, particularly of the way we conduct ourselves when it comes to matters sexual. ….

Their default expectation of us is already one of disgust at our immodesty, disrespect, materialism and impatience.

Giuseppe Sandro Mela.

2019-12-17.

«The hypocritical deal on climate neutrality by 2050».

*

«They all agree, but they won’t all agree to participate»

«The hypocritical deal on climate neutrality by 2050 reached at the EU summit demonstrates how isolated Germany is on this issue»

«All 27 heads of state and government, including Poland …., have agreed that the EU should be climate neutral by the year 2050. However, Poland has been granted a concession — it can take a bit longer to get there»

«Ursula von der Leyen’s contortion allows her to save face, but only with the greatest of difficulty»

«She even went so far as to compare it to the first moon»

«Hypocritical pretense of unanimity»

«In doing so, she put pressure EU governments to fall into line»

«If just one country had refused to go along with the resolution, the European Council would have stabbed von der Leyen in the back. The EU as a whole would have looked utterly ridiculous. Hence this hypocritical pretense of unanimity»

«However, in order to achieve it, concessions had to be made. Poland will not only essentially be able to decide for itself when to decommission its many coal-fired power stations — it currently derives almost 80 percent of its electricity from coal»

«The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland also managed to ensure that nuclear power was specifically mentioned in the closing statement as an energy source en route to climate neutrality»

«French President Emmanuel Macron, supposedly Germany’s closest ally, is of course also behind this. As is well known, France generates the majority of its electricity in CO2-emission-free nuclear power plants; it’s planning to build several new nuclear reactors, and sees absolutely no reason why that should not be acknowledged as a contribution to climate protection»

«This summit has shown how little the German model is regarded as a desirable example»

«Worse still: Although Ursula von der Leyen is responsible for the whole of the EU, many eastern Europeans still see her as the German who’s now trying, in the EU’s name, to impose a German agenda in climate policy, too»

«German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to get her position on refugee issues accepted as the policy of the EU as a whole — and failed»

«Germany now needs to acknowledge that other countries also have views on climate policy that differ from its own.»

*

They all agree, but they won’t all agree to participate. The hypocritical deal on climate neutrality by 2050 reached at the EU summit demonstrates how isolated Germany is on this issue, says DW’s Christoph Hasselbach.

Ursula von der Leyen’s contortion allows her to save face, but only with the greatest of difficulty. The new president of the Commission was keen to demonstrate at the start of her term in office what the EU, and she herself, are capable of. Shortly before the EU summit, parallel to the World Climate Conference in Madrid, she announced the great aim of “European climate neutrality in just 30 years.” She even went so far as to compare it to the first moon landing — as if climate neutrality were an event that could be pinned to a specific date!

Hypocritical pretense of unanimity

In doing so, she put pressure EU governments to fall into line. If just one country had refused to go along with the resolution, the European Council would have stabbed von der Leyen in the back. The EU as a whole would have looked utterly ridiculous. Hence this hypocritical pretense of unanimity.

However, in order to achieve it, concessions had to be made. Poland will not only essentially be able to decide for itself when to decommission its many coal-fired power stations — it currently derives almost 80 percent of its electricity from coal! The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland also managed to ensure that nuclear power was specifically mentioned in the closing statement as an energy source en route to climate neutrality.

French President Emmanuel Macron, supposedly Germany’s closest ally, is of course also behind this. As is well known, France generates the majority of its electricity in CO2-emission-free nuclear power plants; it’s planning to build several new nuclear reactors, and sees absolutely no reason why that should not be acknowledged as a contribution to climate protection.

Memories of Merkel’s refugee policy

Germany, on the other hand, is phasing out both coal-fired power generation and nuclear power over a relatively short period of time. No other European country is taking this route, and it looks as if it’s going to stay that way.

This summit has shown how little the German model is regarded as a desirable example. Worse still: Although Ursula von der Leyen is responsible for the whole of the EU, many eastern Europeans still see her as the German who’s now trying, in the EU’s name, to impose a German agenda in climate policy, too.

And that’s gone wrong before. German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to get her position on refugee issues accepted as the policy of the EU as a whole — and failed. Germany now needs to acknowledge that other countries also have views on climate policy that differ from its own.

«Now MEPs will have to decide if the newly agreed council position is strong enough.»

«A classification system for sustainable investments, known as EU taxonomy, is currently being negotiated with the European Parliament by the European Council, which comprises heads of EU states. Following the negotiation, one taxonomy is set to be implemented into all EU legislation»

«The ministers also endorsed the council’s action plan on climate change, which is aimed at reducing carbon emissions across Europe by 2030. To accomplish that, the EU has said it needs an estimated €180 billion ($198 billion) in investments»

«As the voice of the European asset management industry, we support the EU’s political objective to fight climate change and meet the Paris agreement goals, and have been following closely the negotiations on EU taxonomy regulation. (It’s) crucial that investee companies are required to disclose all key data needed to evaluate the investment against the EU taxonomy.»

*

EU ambassadors have agreed on a slightly-modified version of the EU sustainable investment taxonomy – which aims to clarify which sectors are fully sustainable. The previous version was blocked last week by nine countries (France, UK, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia), because they wanted more guarantees regarding “technological neutrality”. Now MEPs will have to decide if the newly agreed council position is strong enough.

*

Setting their priorities for the coming years, European Union finance ministers endorsed a classification system for sustainable investments and said they would work to direct additional private capital to such investments at an Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting Thursday.

A classification system for sustainable investments, known as EU taxonomy, is currently being negotiated with the European Parliament by the European Council, which comprises heads of EU states. Following the negotiation, one taxonomy is set to be implemented into all EU legislation.

The EU finance ministers did not provide additional information on how they planned to increase private capital allocated to sustainable investments.

The ministers also endorsed the council’s action plan on climate change, which is aimed at reducing carbon emissions across Europe by 2030. To accomplish that, the EU has said it needs an estimated €180 billion ($198 billion) in investments.

The ministers said they will continue to engage with each other on issues such as sustainable finance, green budgeting, carbon pricing, green taxation and environmentally harmful subsidies.

Responding to the political agreement, Fiona Reynolds, CEO of United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, said in an emailed comment that the classification system underpins disclosure requirements and bridges the gap between the 2015 Paris Agreements and investment practices.

“The taxonomy will enable investors to determine the proportion of revenue from sustainable economic activities financed by the investment portfolio,” Ms. Reynolds said. “The taxonomy will also support active ownership efforts: Investors and companies can use the taxonomy to identify future growth opportunities.”

Tanguy van de Werve, director general of European Fund Management Association, said in an emailed comment: “As the voice of the European asset management industry, we support the EU’s political objective to fight climate change and meet the Paris agreement goals, and have been following closely the negotiations on EU taxonomy regulation. (It’s) crucial that investee companies are required to disclose all key data needed to evaluate the investment against the EU taxonomy.”

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Heads of government from each of the EU member states will gather at the EU summit starting on Thursday (12 December) at which leaders will try to agree on the EU’s long-term budget and endorse the goal of making the EU climate-neutral by 2050.

EU leaders will meet in three different formats: a regular summit, a European Council (Article 50) meeting, and a European summit.

This will be the first EU summit chaired by Charles Michel, replacing Donald Tusk, since he was elected the president of the European Council by EU leaders in July.

Women at table

Likewise, the Finish social democrat Sanna Marin will also attend the summit for the first time, after the former prime minister Antti Rinne stepped down last week.

As a result, the gender balance of the EU council will improve slightly, having five female and 23 male heads of government in the European Union.

This will likely be the last EU summit for Malta’s prime minister Joseph Muscat, who has officially said that he will resign in mid-January, following protests over the assassination scandal of the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Climate-neutral refuseniks

EU leaders are expected to unanimously agree on the commitment of making the EU climate-neutral by 2050 during the EU council, just after the commissioner for the Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, unveils the first package of proposals on Wednesday.

However, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary objected to the EU’s 2050 climate-neutrality goal.

The controversial proposal by the Finish presidency for the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will also be discussed at the summit, including the ‘Just Transition Fund’ for coal-dependent member states.

During the European Council (Article 50) meeting scheduled for Friday, leaders are expected to discuss the result of the general election in the UK – taking place on Thursday night, with exit polls at 11PM European time and a result by Friday morning – and its consequences for the Brexit process, as well as the future EU-UK relations.

The Euro summit taking place on Friday will focus on the revision of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) treaty which assists member states in financial difficulty, the budgetary instrument for convergence and competitiveness (BICC) – the long-awaited eurozone budget – and technical work on the strengthening of the banking union.

In the EU summits, heads of government from each of the EU member states, the EU council president and the president of the EU commission meet once every quarter to define the EU’s overall political direction and priorities – by consensus, double majority or unanimity.

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La storia si ripete, mutatis mutandis.

«Germany’s power network operators (TSOs) will hike by 5.5% next year the fee consumers have to pay to support the country’s shift toward renewable energies»

«The surcharge is a key part of Germany’s policy to switch to lower carbon sources of energy, known as Energiewende, but has sparked criticism from consumers because it makes up 21% of their final bills»

«A joint statement from the four TSOs said the fee to pay producers feed-in tariffs under Germany’s EEG renewable energy act will increase to 6.756 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2020 compared with 6.405 cents in 2019»

«A household consuming 5,000 kWh per annum would pay another 18 euros more next year to account for the EEG»

«In Germany, some 23% of power bills are made up of grid usage fees, which have increased due to the higher handling costs of renewable power»

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FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s power network operators (TSOs) will hike by 5.5% next year the fee consumers have to pay to support the country’s shift toward renewable energies, they said on Tuesday, confirming what a source earlier told Reuters.

The surcharge is a key part of Germany’s policy to switch to lower carbon sources of energy, known as Energiewende, but has sparked criticism from consumers because it makes up 21% of their final bills.

A joint statement from the four TSOs said the fee to pay producers feed-in tariffs under Germany’s EEG renewable energy act will increase to 6.756 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) in 2020 compared with 6.405 cents in 2019.

Think-tank Agora and consumer prices comparison companies on Monday said the fee would likely hit a range of 6.5-6.7 cents.

The TSOs said in their statement that more renewable power production was forecast for next year, which could see more pay-outs to renewable power producers.

At the same time, the account in which the collected fees are held had been drawn down this year by relatively high green power output, which is driven by variable weather patterns, it said.

A household consuming 5,000 kWh per annum would pay another 18 euros more next year to account for the EEG, prices portal Check24 said in a press release on Tuesday.

In Germany, some 23% of power bills are made up of grid usage fees, which have increased due to the higher handling costs of renewable power. The remaining 25% represent procurement and retail distribution.

Agora predicted that the fee should peak in 2021, because by then wind turbines built last decade would gradually drop out of the fixed 20-year subsidy scheme that was reformed in 2017.

«A draft law detailing the plan to shut hard coal fired power plants by offering operators fiscal incentives in auctions, seen by Reuters on Sept. 5, showed Germany will start shutting coal plants from next year, under a long-term exit plan up to 2038»

«The government aims to meet a target of reducing carbon emissions to 55% of their 1990 level by 2030»

«“Because of planned price caps, more plants might have to be forced to close on top (of those awarded money in the closure auctions), which brings the risk of compensation lawsuits and delays,”»

«The draft law envisages that by 2022, around 12 plants run by operators including RWE, EnBW and smaller competitors would be shut, leaving 30 with 15 gigawatts (GW) capacity»

«Aurora said that an assumed maximum price of 150,000 euros compensation per megawatt – with taxpayers’ costs in mind – may achieve the first round of closures, with the desired outcome of idling old plants in north Germany not crucial for meeting demand in the industrial south»

A draft law detailing the plan to shut hard coal fired power plants by offering operators fiscal incentives in auctions, seen by Reuters on Sept. 5, showed Germany will start shutting coal plants from next year, under a long-term exit plan up to 2038.

The government aims to meet a target of reducing carbon emissions to 55% of their 1990 level by 2030.

“Because of planned price caps, more plants might have to be forced to close on top (of those awarded money in the closure auctions), which brings the risk of compensation lawsuits and delays,” said the study from Aurora Energy Research.

The draft law envisages that by 2022, around 12 plants run by operators including RWE, EnBW and smaller competitors would be shut, leaving 30 with 15 gigawatts (GW) capacity.

Aurora said that an assumed maximum price of 150,000 euros compensation per megawatt – with taxpayers’ costs in mind – may achieve the first round of closures, with the desired outcome of idling old plants in north Germany not crucial for meeting demand in the industrial south.

But later on, the lawmakers might offer decreases down to 100,000 euros/MW up to 2030, Aurora said, stressing this was an assumption as the draft had not specified the levels yet.

Fewer operators might accept these pay-offs, causing undersubscribed auctions and necessitating ordered shutdowns that could cause more emissions and messy lawsuits that the exit plan was meant to avoid, Aurora said.

The country’s energy regulator will have to decide on mandated closures on the basis of the plants’ age.

After 2030, there will be no more compensation for plants over the age of 25 years.

Other factors that operators will bear in mind to prepare themselves for the auctions were raw material and wholesale prices as well as power demand in coming years, Aurora said.[EL/DE]